An oxygen-efficient body is the secret to health and longevity. The most oxygen-efficient exercise available is proper breathing. Improved oxygen supplies have been found to cure diseases. It also helps avoid various diseases and conditions while aiding physical and emotional balance. And it accelerates mental and physical performance.

The way we breathe is inseparable from our state of consciousness. That is, the way we breathe affects our state of mind and our stated of mind affects the way we breathe. Under normal circumstance, the average person takes about fifteen breaths per minute. Stress, anxiety, mental agitation, or overload, and a hectic lifestyle increase our breathing rate. The more rapid our breathing, the shallower and more irregular it becomes. Rapid, shallow, irregular breathing provides less oxygen to the brain, making it more difficult to process information. Our mental clarity, sensory awareness, and ability to control our thoughts are diminished.

Individuals who lead fast-paced, hectic lives tend to breathe rapidly all the time. They become so acclimated to this lifestyle that they aren't aware of their dysfunctional breathing patterns. Because of our state of mind is connected to the way we breathe, if we change our breathing pattern we change our state of mind. When we breathe slowly, deeply, and rhythmically, we think more clearly and are more likely to be in an "Awakened" state of mind. Breath control is such a powerful technique that it is the cornerstone of many eastern philosophies and disciplines like Yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, and Karate.

Breathing is life. We can exist for weeks without food, days without water, but only minutes without breathing. Your body contains seventy-five trillion cells that provide energy needed to carry out every brain and organ function, body movement, as well as all other needs for your body's systems. These cells need two things to produce energy - nutrients and oxygen. Cell oxygen starvation results in numerous problems, including anxiety and stress, confusion, fatigue, depression, loss of focus, and physical performance disturbances.

Each brain cell (neuron) is a highly complex communication center, responsible for carrying critical messages to other neurons throughout the body. You cannot think or function without them. Tiny thread-like membranes, called dendrites, stretch from each neuron like telephone lines, delivering messages among the communication centers.